Review: Everneath by Brodi Ashton

Synopsis:  From Goodreads, "Last spring, Nikki Beckett vanished, sucked into an underworld known as the Everneath, where immortals Feed on the emotions of despairing humans. Now she's returned- to her old life, her family, her friends- before being banished back to the underworld... this time forever.

She has six months before the Everneath comes to claim her, six months for good-byes she can't find the words for, six months to find redemption, if it exists.

Nikki longs to spend these months reconnecting with her boyfriend, Jack, the one person she loves more than anything. But there's a problem: Cole, the smoldering immortal who first enticed her to the Everneath, has followed Nikki to the mortal world. And he'll do whatever it takes to bring her back- this time as his queen.

As Nikki's time grows short and her relationships begin slipping from her grasp, she's forced to make the hardest decision of her life: find a way to cheat fate and remain on the Surface with Jack or return to the Everneath and become Cole's."

Review:  With an interesting concept--life after death--and a setting in Park City, Utah that I was familiar with, I have to say that I was pretty easily sucked into Brodi Ashton's first novel.  There seems to be a lot of information that comes at the reader, in a somewhat vague way, but it is just that vagueness that makes you want to keep reading to find out what is going on.  What do we know from the get go?  We know that Nikki is a strong-minded girl who has had some traumatic things happen to her, which included her mother's death and some emotional pain that she couldn't shake.  We quickly find out that she was also dating Jack, who was the love of her life, at the time that she checked out of life to the Everneath. 

What don't we know?  A lot.  How did she disappear?  What really happened to make her decide to "check out" of life (so to say) to enter the Everneath?  How did she get there?  Why does she only have six months back in her old life before she has to return?  Is there a way out?  As you can see, there are a lot of questions that have to be answered over the course of the book that keep you reading and wanting more.  Some of our questions get answered, and some are sure to come!

While I admittedly struggled at times to put details with answers, I really liked the countdown that starts the book with her return to her life and moves us toward the day she has to surrender to the Everneath.  This countdown adds to our desire to know what's up and builds the mystery.  We know she has a limited amount of time, so we want her to resolve things at home as much as she does!  For this non-mystery fan, I thought the way the story was built around what happened in the past helped to make it more about what was driving the characters than all the details we were looking for about the Everneath.  Yes, it's all very mysterious and creepy, but Nikki seems so troubled, Cole so ubiquitously shady, and Jack so wounded that you have to know what caused them to all behave as they do.

Overall, I found this to be an engaging read.  The characters have a lot going on, and they seem to learn things at the same time that we do.  The air of mystery and romance to this story really make you want to see the characters find resolution to their problems, and mainly to this whole going back to the Everneath at all!  I fully intend to share Everneath with my students, who I think will really get into the mystery in the story, along with all of the angst going on between the characters.  Honestly, it was a great read, with one doozy of a cliffhanger! 

*FTC Disclosure:  This review was based on a library copy of the novel.